A nurse is preparing a teaching plan for a client who has mucositis related to chemotherapy treatment. Which of the following instructions should the nurse include?

Choice A reason: While it is generally advised to avoid taking blood pressure readings from an arm with a PICC line to prevent complications, if the right arm cannot be used, as may be the case with the other clients listed, the nurse may have to use the left arm with extreme caution, ensuring not to disrupt the PICC line.

Choice B reason: Bell's palsy affects facial nerves and does not typically impact the measurement of blood pressure. Therefore, there is no contraindication to using the left arm for a blood pressure reading in a client with left-sided Bell's palsy.

Choice C reason: A client with right-sided weakness due to Parkinson's disease can have their blood pressure taken on the left side if the right side is too weak to provide an accurate reading or if using the right side would cause discomfort to the client.

Choice D reason: For a client with a right upper extremity arteriovenous fistula, typically created for dialysis access, blood pressure measurements should not be taken on that arm to avoid damaging the fistula. Therefore, the left arm should be used for blood pressure readings in this case.

Choice A reason: The Mantoux skin test, also known as the tuberculin skin test, measures the immune response to the tuberculin purified protein derivative (PPD) injected under the skin. An induration of less than 1 mm is not necessarily an indication of non-infectiousness; it may indicate a lack of infection or an inadequate immune response. This test does not reflect the current infectious status as it measures a delayed hypersensitivity reaction and can remain positive for life once someone has been exposed to TB or has received the BCG vaccine.

Choice B reason: Negative sputum cultures for acid-fast bacillus are a strong indication that the client is no longer infectious. Pulmonary tuberculosis is diagnosed and monitored through sputum cultures to detect the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. A series of negative cultures typically indicates that the client is not excreting the bacteria and is, therefore, not contagious.

Choice C reason: While the cessation of coughing up blood-tinged sputum is a positive sign of clinical improvement, it does not conclusively indicate that the client is no longer infectious. The absence of blood in the sputum may simply mean that the damage to lung tissues is healing, but the client could still be harboring and potentially spreading TB bacteria.

Choice D reason: The Quantiferon-TB Gold test is a blood test that measures the immune system's response to TB bacteria. A positive result indicates TB infection, but it does not distinguish between latent infection and active disease, nor does it provide information on infectiousness. The parenthetical "negative" is confusing and should be clarified in the context of the test results.